Via my colleague KC, I learn this website that documents some research about online community of inquiry: Research into Online Communities of Inquiry (associated with University of Calgary).

Central to the research is the model of a community of inquiry that was developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer in 2000. The model has three elements: social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence. These three elements are essential to an educational experience and must be considered when planning and delivering an online learning experience.

Cognitive presence is the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication.

Social presence is the ability of learners to project their personal characteristics into the community of inquiry, thereby presenting themselves as ‘real people.’

Teaching presence is defined as the design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educational worthwhile learning outcomes.